Prognosis on Prague-Noises: Recording Scores in Czech Republic
MIDTOWN MANHATTAN: Music budgets aren’t lookin’ up for non-blockbuster film projects these days, and that means film composers must be as economical as possible when scoring a film. But what is a composer to do if the director of a smaller budget project is looking for a large orchestral sound that simply cannot be achieved virtually?
Gary Chester
You’ve heard of film and video game scores being tracked in Prague, but going that route requires contacts, experience and general know-how beyond the scope of many composers and music producers.
This is exactly the scenario recording engineer Gary Chester (A Bronx Tale, Dead Man Walking) had in mind when he created PragueRecording.com, which connects people/productions with everything they need to outsource orchestral scores to the Czech Republic, saving the film company thousands of dollars in costs.
How much can you save by recording scores in Prague? “I would say it’s 1/3rd the cost,” Chester attests.
In Prague, the score can be laid down as a non-union job, which means no royalties or other fettered costs need to be paid to the orchestral players. In addition, the recorded music can be used for an indefinite number of times, for an indefinite amount of time, and for any purpose the owner chooses — without exception. In film deals, the film company usually owns the music, but in the case of albums, which Chester has also recorded in Prague, this royalty free package is extremely advantageous.
The first score Chester recorded in Prague? Witness to the Mob (1998), with composer Stephen Endelman.
What film companies and film composers have loved about Chester is that he assumes full responsibility of the job overseas. He books the travel. He books the hotel. He books the hall. It’s like an all-inclusive package, although he admits he occasionally cuts back on some of the work on booking travel and hotels as engineering the sessions is a gargantuan task in and of itself.
Chester, a seasoned expert having worked on such films as Dead Man Walking, The Butterfly Effect, and most recently Last Chance Harvey, started out his career mastering albums for the United Artists label. He then moved into recording bands like The Belmonts in his own space called Mayfair, at United Artists. Gary started recording TV commercials at Mayfair and eventually broke away to his own business ventures: Counterpoint Studios and The Edison. These recording studios are where Gary really pulled in a lot of work, engineering commercials at first, but eventually moving on to film scores.
CZECH TECH: LOGISTICS AND TECHNICAL ISSUES OF RECORDING IN PRAGUE
As we chatted in NYC studio The Den, located within Manhattan Center, Chester enlightened me on the various technical aspects of recording in Prague. To start, European concert halls, for example, have acoustics that are far superior to typical large American recording rooms.
Alternative seating arrangements in concert venues offer another advantage over studios. In a studio environment, Chester must seat the loudest instruments, such as the brass, in front to isolate the sound as much as possible. A concert venue in Prague affords Gary the unique option of seating the players as one would a traditional symphony orchestral.
Sometimes Chester will manipulate the arrangement of the violin sections or choir to get a different sound as well. He finds that a more dramatic effect may be achieved if the 2nd violins are moved to stage left to create a stereo sound. Gary may also recommend to situate the choir in distinct sections, the traditional SATB arrangement, or mix up the voice parts to achieve a more blended sound.
In these situations, I wondered…does he use a click-track? “An orchestra sounds best, in my opinion, when there’s only a conductor, no prerecords, no click track, no headphones, because the orchestra actually hears the sound in the room,” Chester explained. “Dynamically, they hear themselves, and they follow something that is not so metric as a click track. But, that can only be done on very few projects.”
Most often, Chester is engineering a session that involves pre-recorded material such as a piano track, rhythm section, or MIDI material that has been bounced to an audio file. Composers almost always prepare this ahead of time, and have the timing of cues locked down before the live session. This means click track is a must.
Czech orchestras tune to A443 rather than A440 of American ensembles. This raises an issue when pre-records are involved in the live session. According to Chester, classically trained musicians of Europe may be set in their ways and not tune down, so this pitch discrepancy is solved simply by sliding the pitch of the pre-records up in Pro Tools.
MENTORING & CURRENT PROJECTS
Chester also enjoys advising up-and-coming film composers. He recently mentored an NYU film-scoring student, providing business coaching on contracting and technical issues to get his score recorded at NYC’s Clinton Studios. Last summer, he engineered and lectured at the ASCAP-NYU Film Scoring Workshop in Memory of Buddy Baker.
Chester’s latest film project, Brooklyn’s Finest, was released earlier this month and features a score by Marcelo Zarvos. Gary has also recently returned from Prague recording the score of Discovery’s new show called, Life. Narrated by Oprah Winfrey, Life’s premier episode aired on Sunday, March 21 and drew in walloping 11.8 million viewers.
– Jeffrey DiLucca
markC
April 1, 2010 at 5:48 pm (14 years ago)Very disappointing that you would feature this guy in your newsletter. Know your audience. The people who read this are the very same people he puts out of business day by day. Amazing that Sonicscoop would celebrate this guy.
Janice Brown
April 1, 2010 at 7:29 pm (14 years ago)Point taken, and appreciated. We felt it was interesting that someone here in NYC has all the know-how to facilitate these recordings and — it being a well-established trend to track orchestras outside of the U.S. — thought he was worth spotlighting for his expertise. Definitely hear where you’re coming from though and will keep this in mind going forward. Thanks for the comments.
markC
April 1, 2010 at 10:48 am (15 years ago)Very disappointing that you would feature this guy in your newsletter. Know your audience. The people who read this are the very same people he puts out of business day by day. Amazing that Sonicscoop would celebrate this guy.
Janice Brown
April 1, 2010 at 12:29 pm (15 years ago)Point taken, and appreciated. We felt it was interesting that someone here in NYC has all the know-how to facilitate these recordings and — it being a well-established trend to track orchestras outside of the U.S. — thought he was worth spotlighting for his expertise. Definitely hear where you’re coming from though and will keep this in mind going forward. Thanks for the comments.
tammy
April 1, 2010 at 5:52 pm (14 years ago)As a New York City musician, I’d like to agree with the previous comment.
tammy
April 1, 2010 at 10:52 am (15 years ago)As a New York City musician, I’d like to agree with the previous comment.
Randy Ezratty
April 1, 2010 at 10:24 pm (14 years ago)As a longtime member of the NYC recording community, I respectfully (but strongly) disagree with the negative comments from readers of this piece. Sour grapes thrown at the wrong target. Anyone who actually knows the situation regarding film score recording in New York knows that the NYC Musicians Union is unwilling to take it’s head out of the sand for the benefit of its members. They are more unreasonable (in terms of rates and residuals) than any other local in this country (including L.A.) or any other country in the world. Many producers would rather record here. They would rather patronize and support NYC musicians and studios, even if it ultimately costs a bit more. The union needs to wake up and realize that it’s time to compete reasonably in the real world!
Great piece about a great NYC engineer.
Randy Ezratty
April 1, 2010 at 3:24 pm (14 years ago)As a longtime member of the NYC recording community, I respectfully (but strongly) disagree with the negative comments from readers of this piece. Sour grapes thrown at the wrong target. Anyone who actually knows the situation regarding film score recording in New York knows that the NYC Musicians Union is unwilling to take it’s head out of the sand for the benefit of its members. They are more unreasonable (in terms of rates and residuals) than any other local in this country (including L.A.) or any other country in the world. Many producers would rather record here. They would rather patronize and support NYC musicians and studios, even if it ultimately costs a bit more. The union needs to wake up and realize that it’s time to compete reasonably in the real world!
Great piece about a great NYC engineer.
Robert L. Smith
April 2, 2010 at 11:36 pm (14 years ago)Couldn’t agree more with Randy!
Robert L. Smith
April 2, 2010 at 4:36 pm (14 years ago)Couldn’t agree more with Randy!
Maxwell Carter
April 6, 2010 at 3:17 am (14 years ago)I strongly agree with Randy, and Janice, I actually enjoyed Jeffery’s article and found it very inspiring. Not in the sense of where I need to take work outside of the country, but that people can survive and continue to do what they do best. I have worked in this industry for over 25 years, and I have seen large orchestras dwindle down to small ensembles, and the large studios that accommodated them, fade away. But my question is… Where was Mark C and Tammy when all of that was going on? Where were they when small studios were being assembled with Pro Tools putting guys like Gary Chester and other greats out of work? Where were THEY when Strings, Brass, Winds and Percussion Samples were getting better and better, thus putting guys like Gary, Mark C and many others out of work? Where were they when THEY made the decision to act as ALL the musicians on a date playing Brass, Winds or Strings.. then doubling, tripling even quadrupling their parts putting MANY NY musicians out of work? Let me guess… you were knocking on Broadways doors instead? I read this article realizing Gary is a man who has weathered a lot of storms in this industry and obviously was forced to think “Outside of the Box” in order to survive. I could not imagine someone with all those accolades would decided one day it was easier to work over 4000 miles away with total strangers then working in the comfort of his home town of NYC to make a buck. Oh yeah…. there is NO PLACE to work in NYC anymore! Hmmm… Go figure… I myself have had to watch my success be stolen by in house facilities and massive budget cuts to where I have creating something untouchable. I will say this… People like Mark and Tammy need to get a grip and realize it will never be the same as it use to be. Be fortunate you lived in a time where the only option was to hire YOU along with 59 of your comrades to play on a 30 second Coo Coo Puffs commercial AND get paid enough to put your kids though college. Don’t get me wrong, It’s a damn shame and I miss it as much as Mark C and I’m sure Gary Chester does, but I get it, and that time is long long gone my friends. So go take your disappointment and cry on the 2nd floor of the Local 802.. I’m sure they have a box of tissues for you.
Hey Gary if you read this. we met many many moons ago, but a friend of mine caught your seminar at the AES Student Summit in St Louis recently and said you were a hit! Glad to hear you are still rockin’
– max
Maxwell Carter
April 5, 2010 at 8:17 pm (14 years ago)I strongly agree with Randy, and Janice, I actually enjoyed Jeffery’s article and found it very inspiring. Not in the sense of where I need to take work outside of the country, but that people can survive and continue to do what they do best. I have worked in this industry for over 25 years, and I have seen large orchestras dwindle down to small ensembles, and the large studios that accommodated them, fade away. But my question is… Where was Mark C and Tammy when all of that was going on? Where were they when small studios were being assembled with Pro Tools putting guys like Gary Chester and other greats out of work? Where were THEY when Strings, Brass, Winds and Percussion Samples were getting better and better, thus putting guys like Gary, Mark C and many others out of work? Where were they when THEY made the decision to act as ALL the musicians on a date playing Brass, Winds or Strings.. then doubling, tripling even quadrupling their parts putting MANY NY musicians out of work? Let me guess… you were knocking on Broadways doors instead? I read this article realizing Gary is a man who has weathered a lot of storms in this industry and obviously was forced to think “Outside of the Box” in order to survive. I could not imagine someone with all those accolades would decided one day it was easier to work over 4000 miles away with total strangers then working in the comfort of his home town of NYC to make a buck. Oh yeah…. there is NO PLACE to work in NYC anymore! Hmmm… Go figure… I myself have had to watch my success be stolen by in house facilities and massive budget cuts to where I have creating something untouchable. I will say this… People like Mark and Tammy need to get a grip and realize it will never be the same as it use to be. Be fortunate you lived in a time where the only option was to hire YOU along with 59 of your comrades to play on a 30 second Coo Coo Puffs commercial AND get paid enough to put your kids though college. Don’t get me wrong, It’s a damn shame and I miss it as much as Mark C and I’m sure Gary Chester does, but I get it, and that time is long long gone my friends. So go take your disappointment and cry on the 2nd floor of the Local 802.. I’m sure they have a box of tissues for you.
Hey Gary if you read this. we met many many moons ago, but a friend of mine caught your seminar at the AES Student Summit in St Louis recently and said you were a hit! Glad to hear you are still rockin’
– max
Thomas Maguire
April 11, 2010 at 8:15 pm (14 years ago)I’ve known Gary for 30 years. I doubt anyone has engineered more 802 Union Sessions or been responsible for more Union Scale Wages and Residuals, Period.
We were both there at the peak of the NYC session business, when musicians were booked so tight if one session used it’s possible 20, it would throw off sessions all over town. Our best and brightest players were so well honed that magic was an everyday occurrence. I would sit in the hall just to hear what Paul Griffin or Jimmy Maelen might play to sell breakfast cereal.
Those days are GONE as are the studios. Economy and technology have conspired against art. I’d love to call Radio Registry and book an A-List string & horn date in a giant room with a producer who is gonna run it down till the feel gives him chills. Sinatra isn’t going to Clinton on Sunday mornings anymore ‘just to run a few tunes down with 30 pieces.
The reality in film production is bean counters. If Prague bothers you, how do you feel about sampled strings arranged in someone’s basement on a computer? Sharpen your pencil. We are not talking about Prague vs. 802 & Clinton. We are talking about real musicians vs. canned orchestras. Now I would rather see 802 people making the money but given the choice between 80 musicians feeding their families from playing-even if it’s halfway around the world. and canned strings and horns, I’d send the money to Prague.
Music has always been international. It has always opened doors that are closed to other trades. Prague Music is ahead of its time but then Gary is a smart guy and a survivor. I’ll bet there are 802 guys making money this very day from tracks with out of town string dates. Try telling them to give it back.
I used to be the Chief Maintenance Engineer at Counterpoint and my wife was John Glazel’s assistant at 802. We both worked for the Rock R&B Committee and on the Radio City Strike. I could not be more in favor of our NYC Union Musicians and support them in every way I can.
It is easy to have a knee jerk reaction like those above but it is only an example of mob-psychology. I wonder how many of those posters drive a BMW, sit in imported furniture and spend their money on vacations outside the country?
Put your money where your mouth is. Go see some live music tonight!
Wishing all of you the best,
Thomas Maguire
Thomas Maguire
April 11, 2010 at 1:15 pm (14 years ago)I’ve known Gary for 30 years. I doubt anyone has engineered more 802 Union Sessions or been responsible for more Union Scale Wages and Residuals, Period.
We were both there at the peak of the NYC session business, when musicians were booked so tight if one session used it’s possible 20, it would throw off sessions all over town. Our best and brightest players were so well honed that magic was an everyday occurrence. I would sit in the hall just to hear what Paul Griffin or Jimmy Maelen might play to sell breakfast cereal.
Those days are GONE as are the studios. Economy and technology have conspired against art. I’d love to call Radio Registry and book an A-List string & horn date in a giant room with a producer who is gonna run it down till the feel gives him chills. Sinatra isn’t going to Clinton on Sunday mornings anymore ‘just to run a few tunes down with 30 pieces.
The reality in film production is bean counters. If Prague bothers you, how do you feel about sampled strings arranged in someone’s basement on a computer? Sharpen your pencil. We are not talking about Prague vs. 802 & Clinton. We are talking about real musicians vs. canned orchestras. Now I would rather see 802 people making the money but given the choice between 80 musicians feeding their families from playing-even if it’s halfway around the world. and canned strings and horns, I’d send the money to Prague.
Music has always been international. It has always opened doors that are closed to other trades. Prague Music is ahead of its time but then Gary is a smart guy and a survivor. I’ll bet there are 802 guys making money this very day from tracks with out of town string dates. Try telling them to give it back.
I used to be the Chief Maintenance Engineer at Counterpoint and my wife was John Glazel’s assistant at 802. We both worked for the Rock R&B Committee and on the Radio City Strike. I could not be more in favor of our NYC Union Musicians and support them in every way I can.
It is easy to have a knee jerk reaction like those above but it is only an example of mob-psychology. I wonder how many of those posters drive a BMW, sit in imported furniture and spend their money on vacations outside the country?
Put your money where your mouth is. Go see some live music tonight!
Wishing all of you the best,
Thomas Maguire